Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to techniques for identifying and/or authenticating objects.
Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a typical system for object identification.
In the example considered, a tag 402 is fixed to an object 40. Usually, the tag 402 stores an alphanumeric sequence, or generally a code C. For example, the tag 402 may be a bar-code, such as a QR code, or an RF-ID (Radio-frequency identification) tag.
In particular, in the context of univocal identification, the code C stored in the tag 402 is a univocal code associated with a given object 40, e.g., each tag 402 identifies univocally a respective object 40. For example, the code C may correspond to the model and serial number of the object 40.
Thus, in order to permit an identification of a given object, the codes C and the respective data D associated with objects are stored in a database 50. For example, the data D stored for a given code C may comprise the model type, the serial number (if not contained already in the code C), the production year, the production location, etc. For example, in FIG. 1, these information may be organized in the form of a table, comprising the codes C1, C2, etc., and the respective data D1, D2, etc.
Accordingly, some kind of reader device 10 is used to acquire the code C stored in the tag 402 and to obtain the information stored for the respective code. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the reader device 10 may comprise for this purpose a sensor 112, such as an optical sensor or a RF-ID reader, and a processing unit 102.
Accordingly, once having received the code C from the tag 402, the processing unit 102 may determine via the database 50 the data stored for the given code. Next, the respective information may be shown to a user, e.g., by means of a user interface 110 of the device 10.
Accordingly, the above solution may be used to obtain the identification of a given object.
However, the code C stored in the tag 402 is static, e.g., the tag 402 will provide for subsequent reading operations always the same code C. Accordingly, the above solution is insufficient in order to permit a reliable verification of the authenticity of the object 40, e.g., because the tag 402, in particular the code C, could be copied and applied also to other non-authentic objects.